Beautiful Garden

 Hi, this is Norma!  Did you know that Beautiful Gate owns some property that is intended to be developed for nine homes that will be used as income rental homes?  There will be seven two-bedroom homes and two three-bedroom homes.  The property is terraced and has a beautiful view of the mountains.  As money comes in, the property will be developed further.  Dawn, Glenda, and I went out with Allen to water sixty tree saplings this morning.  We lugged a lot of watering cans of water!  And then it poured after lunch!!!

Painting & Answered Prayer

Our day started bright & early with coffee, oatmeal with craisins, and devotions by Dale. It was a beautiful day for painting so we put on our painting clothes and headed outside to the "River" chapel.

Here we are greeted by Motselisi, head of finance department, and getting our marching orders from Dale!  We sanded, swept cobwebs, filled holes, cut and rolled fresh paint.

But first, we praise God that prayers were answered!  Whitney was miraculously healed and joined us for the day painted.

Second, I got my suitcase!

We took a break for lunch.  Two ladies, the "house help" came and cleaned and made lunch which was papa, which is a maze/corn meal.  (It has a consistency like mashed potatoes) and  moroho, which is cooked spinach with onions and other flavoring.

I used more paint on myself than on the building :)

A work in progress...

This side is almost finished!!!!!

Sunday April 3 in Lesotho

Hey this is Cindy Bishop reporting!

 Today, after sleeping in, we got ready and KB took us to a local church called Kereke Ea Baptist. We arrived after it had started and were there for 2 1/2 hours!  Towards the beginning of the service our group was asked to go up front and sing for them. We chose "Blessed be the Name of the Lord", we did all the hand motions and they even participated along with us.  After the service, we socialized, suckers (lollies) were passed out and pictures were taken (see below).  After that we came home and had lunch and had our day of rest. 

In the morning, we woke to see cows strolling nearby

 Me and the cow

Laundry Hanging

Pastor Johannes delivered a great sermon with KB translating

 

Handshakes

Glenda Vander Tuig passing out "lollies"

Notice the girl in the back row with the RCS shirt!

The children loved seeing their pictures on the camera

Dale and Glenda Vander Tuig

Thanks for checking out our blog, keep checking for future posts! 

We Made It!!!!

We are packed and ready to go.  We, (our Lesotho traveling group) consists of Whitney & Lindsey Wagner, Dale & Glenda Vander Tuig, Dawn Verkaik, Doug Spoelstra, Norma Greenfield, Denise Kouwe & Cindy Bishop were all set and ready to go this past Thursday night and headed out to LAX where we boarded a plane to visit Beautiful Gate in Lesotho, Africa.

We traveled from LAX to JFK, which was about a 5 hour flight and then from JFK to Johannesburg, South Africa which was a 15 hour flight.  On that long, long flight, we watched movies, worked Sudoku puzzles, read, ate at all hours of the night, and tried to sleep.

After landing in Johannesburg, we hopped on a smaller plane and flew into Maseru, Lesotho, which is the capital.  Bryan Geurink and another gentleman, Allan, that works at Beautiful Gate, picked us up from the airport.  All our luggage made it, except for mine (Dawn).  As of now, I still don't have my suitcase!  Please pray!  We'll keep you posted!  Other than that, we're having a great time!

One More Week!!!

Exactly a week from today our group of nine from the River CRC church will be in midair somewhere on our way to Lesotho, Africa!  It's hard to fathom and I don't know if I'm the only one suffering from a little anxiety thinking about all those hours on the plane!

Today I finally made my lists and bought some of those travel size goodies to pack in my suitcase.  I've filled out an endless amount of forms (that Doug keeps sending us) made copies of all the vital information, got all my shots, read up about Lesotho, Beautiful Gate, what to expect when we visit our sponsored children from World Vision.  So much, didn't expect this when I "signed up" but I'm sure it will be worth it!

Tomorrow night we meet with our group for last minute planning and looking forward to this amazing experience.

Like I said, I can't believe I'll be in Africa by the end of next week!  I know I speak for the group when I say we covet your prayers and thank you for all your support whether it was financially, coming to our fundraiser dinner,  or your commitment to praying for all of us.

I set up this blog hoping you can follow us on this journey.  We hope you take the time to visit us and enjoy the ride!

God Bless!!!

Check out pictures from the fundraiser.  A Big THANK YOU to the Wagner family for grilling that awesome tri-tip!!!